Category: Microsoft
Category Archives: Microsoft
How to import PST to Gmail Without Outlook?
Basically you will need to install Advik PST to Gmail Converter. This software will transfer emails from PST to Gmail account. With this application, you can import PST to Gmail without Outlook in bulk. All the emails and folders will be transfered successfuly.
Steps to import PST to Gmail without Outlook
Run Advik PST to Gmail Converter in your PC.Click Add File and Outlook.pst file.Select mailbox folders and click Next.Choose Gmail as saving option.Enter Gmail credentials and Click Convert.
Done! This is how you can import PST to Gmail without Outlook.
Basically you will need to install Advik PST to Gmail Converter. This software will transfer emails from PST to Gmail account. With this application, you can import PST to Gmail without Outlook in bulk. All the emails and folders will be transfered successfuly. Steps to import PST to Gmail without OutlookRun Advik PST to Gmail Converter in your PC.Click Add File and Outlook.pst file.Select mailbox folders and click Next.Choose Gmail as saving option.Enter Gmail credentials and Click Convert.Done! This is how you can import PST to Gmail without Outlook. Read More
My onedrive when I Google my old photos ,videos,albums ,files get lost ,which is I don’t get it why?
onedrive never backup my photos ,files anyway is failing why? Try the best as you can please Microsoft.
onedrive never backup my photos ,files anyway is failing why? Try the best as you can please Microsoft. Read More
How to Convert OST to PST in 2024?
Download the Advik OST to PST Converter software in your PC. This is the best tool to convert OST file to PST format. The software considered amoung the top leading application to export emails, contacts and calendar data from Outlook data file into PST file. You can convert multiple OST files to PST in one single attempt. Try the demo version which is completely free.
Steps to Convert OST to PST free
Launch Advik OST to PST Converter in your PC.Click Select Files and add Outlook.ost file.Select mailbox folders and click Next.Choose PST as saving option.Click Convert button.
Finished! The software will imideatly start converting OST file to PST format.
Download the Advik OST to PST Converter software in your PC. This is the best tool to convert OST file to PST format. The software considered amoung the top leading application to export emails, contacts and calendar data from Outlook data file into PST file. You can convert multiple OST files to PST in one single attempt. Try the demo version which is completely free. Steps to Convert OST to PST freeLaunch Advik OST to PST Converter in your PC.Click Select Files and add Outlook.ost file.Select mailbox folders and click Next.Choose PST as saving option.Click Convert button.Finished! The software will imideatly start converting OST file to PST format. Read More
How to Open/Import OST file in Outlook?
Microsoft doesn’t provide any option to open OST file in Outlook. However you can try the alternate solution. Actually you can import data in .pst file in Outlook. So you have to convert OST to PST format. For that you will need to download and install Advik OST to PST Converter from official website of Advik Software.
With this software you can convert OST into PST format. After that import PST file in Outlook 2016, 2019 or 2021 version.
Microsoft doesn’t provide any option to open OST file in Outlook. However you can try the alternate solution. Actually you can import data in .pst file in Outlook. So you have to convert OST to PST format. For that you will need to download and install Advik OST to PST Converter from official website of Advik Software. With this software you can convert OST into PST format. After that import PST file in Outlook 2016, 2019 or 2021 version. Read More
AUTHENTICATION IN AZURE LOAD TESTING SERIES: GENERATE AND REFRESH ACCESS TOKENS WITH JMeter
Whenever you run load tests on your endpoints in Azure Load Testing, there might be a situation where your endpoints require an access token. We have seen that before load testing these endpoints, most users generate an access token and store it in the Azure Key Vault. They then pass this token as a variable in the Header of the request as a bearer token to authenticate at the endpoint. But there might be a few problems with this approach:
Sometime has elapsed between the act of storing the token in the key vault and the start of execution of the test. There can be a case where the token might expire during the test run and the request at the endpoints start throwing errors.
Only one static token is stored in the key vault and is used for all the requests. When we are load testing with multiple Virtual Users, we want a situation where all users have a unique access token while making the requests, as it will mimic a real-life scenario. Currently scaling is there, but the authenticity is lost.
Most access tokens have a lifetime of around 60-75 minutes on an average. When we are running load tests for longer durations (E.g.- Soak Tests), it is almost certain that the access token will get expired during the execution of the test. We would like to have some sort of control where the service intelligently identifies when a token is going to get expired, and renews it, so that the test can carry on as usual.
This blog covers how you can create a JMeter Test plan, where you can implement a mechanism to generate and refresh access tokens which are unique for every user and run it at scale in Azure Load Testing.
PREREQUISITES
An Azure Load Testing Resource
Azure Key Vault for storing secrets
JMeter
Azure Load Testing Resource configured to fetch secrets during runtime
CREATING THE TEST PLAN IN THE JMETER GUI
Test Plan
Create a Test Plan in JMeter. Add your variables in the “User defined variable section.” If you are testing an Azure endpoint, you may need to use the GetSecret function to store the client_ID, client_secret, tenant_ID etc. Proceed to the config elements and add a HTTP Cookie Manager and HTTP Cache Manager. Make sure to select the option to clear cache and cookies on each iteration.
Thread Group
Create a Thread Group and provide the required inputs. Enable the “Start Next Thread Loop” Option. Set the Loop Count to infinite and set the test duration.
Token Loop
Inside the Thread Group, create a Loop Controller and set the loop count to infinite. Further, inside the loop controller, add two more controllers: The transaction controller, which will generate the token and the runtime controller, which will refresh the token.
Access Token Generation
Inside the Transaction Controller, add an HTTP Sampler and setup a POST request to the token endpoint to fetch the access token. Set “grant type” as “client credentials” and “ignore Cache” as “true”. Add a HTTP Header Manager to the sampler and add the Content-Type as “application/x-www-form-urlencoded” and set the Authorization depending upon the configuration done at the token endpoint.
Access Token Extraction
Add a JSON extractor to extract the access token and set it in a variable which will be used going forward.
Access Token Refresh
Proceed to the runtime controller. In the Runtime section, specify the time after which you want the token to be refreshed. Usually token lasts for 60 minutes. Make sure to include some buffer time before token expiry. You can also extract the expiry time of the token, store it in a variable and pass it here.
Target Endpoint
Add another HTTP Sampler, this time sending a GET request to the target endpoint. In the HTTP Header Manager, set Authorization to Bearer ${token}.
Add some listeners like View Results tree, Summary Report etc to analyse the results locally. Results should look something like this.
Now the JMeter script is complete and can be used in Azure Load Testing to run it at scale.
Creating and Running the Load Test
Upload the JMeter Script in the Test plan tab.
Configure the Secrets section under the Parameters tab. Now, we are all set to launch the test.
CONCLUSION
Now you can run your load tests for an even longer duration without having to worry about the expiry of access tokens.
Try this this out and let us know if this works for you. Please use the comments section or use our feedback forum.
HAPPY LOAD TESTING!!
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Changes coming to the Azure Update Delivery service tag
Azure Update Delivery service tag is being deprecated starting July 1, 2024. If your Azure Firewall is configured to receive Windows updates using this service tag, you’ll need to migrate away from the service tag and use Azure Firewall application rules instead.
In this article, let’s talk about the Azure Update Delivery service tag, what’s changing, and specific actions to take today.
What is the Azure Update Delivery service tag?
Azure Firewall service tags are collections of IP addresses and ranges associated with a named resource. They simplify the process of configuring your firewall. The tags are automatically updated to reflect changes to IP addresses. This means that you don’t need to monitor or manually adjust your firewall rules with such address changes.
Tip: Read an overview of Azure Firewall service tags.
The AzureUpdateDelivery service tag has been used to enable Windows devices to scan for Windows updates. The process of scanning connects a Windows device to Microsoft Windows Update services, checking for any necessary operating system updates, drivers, firmware, and applications.
The AzureUpdateDelivery service tag allows the Azure Firewall to recognize the specific IP addresses used by Microsoft Windows Update scanning. This helps ensure that your Windows devices are securely connecting to the correct Microsoft services with confidence.
After your Windows device completes a Windows Update scan, it identifies the needed content updates. Then, the device downloads and verifies the content using the URLs that it learned during the scan. Installation follows.
To enable Azure Firewall to authorize these downloads, you may have used the “AzureFrontDoor.FirstParty” service tag. This service tag represents a list of trusted IP addresses from which you can download update content. After download, the content is validated for security and integrity before it’s installed on your device.
What is changing?
Due to changes in the workflow, content downloads may now come from trusted third-party Content Delivery Networks (CDN) outside of the Azure network. However, these aren’t addressable through a service tag. Therefore, while scanning for updates, the secondary stage of content download might fail.
We recommend switching from using service tags (like AzureUpdateDelivery and AzureFrontDoor.FirstParty) to application firewall rules. Keep in mind that third-party CDNs can’t create Azure Firewall service tags that contain their IP addresses. When you shift to using Azure Firewall application rules with Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) filtering tags, you’ll perform the same task using DNS hosts.
Continue reading to learn more about this recommended process.
How do I know if I’m using the Azure Update Delivery service tag?
The AzureUpdateDelivery and AzureFrontDoor.FirstParty service tags are not automatically applied. A network administrator, possibly you, or someone before you, must have explicitly applied them as Azure Firewall rules.
If you’re not sure whether these tags are in use, check your Azure Firewall policy network rules for these specific destination service tags. For more information on firewall rules, refer to the Azure Firewall Basic features documentation.
What should I do if I use the Azure Update Delivery service tag?
Please move away from using the AzureUpdateDelivery and AzureFrontDoor.FirstParty service tags. Instead, follow these recommendations for enterprise scenarios:
Azure Firewall application rule with the Windows Update fully qualified domain name (FQDN) tag. Set your Azure Firewall policy with an application rule configured for the Windows Update FQDN tag. This tells the firewall exactly which Windows Update-related hosts to trust when scanning and downloading content. Use this strategy for both Windows desktop and server devices.
Use published Microsoft guidance for your firewall or proxy. Microsoft publishes guidance on how you can configure your enterprise firewall and proxy services to enable proper access to Windows Update services.
Use Windows Service Update Services (WSUS). This enterprise solution provides a service inside your network permitter. That’s where your Windows devices can scan and download update content.
Creating Windows Update application firewall rules
We recommend that you use the Windows Update FQDN tag to configure your Azure Firewall to permit Windows updates for your Windows devices. Azure manages the FQDNs associated with Windows Update for both scanning and content download.
You can do this by adding an application rule to your Azure Firewall policy resource. Note that you can create these application FQDN filtering rules in any Azure Firewall (from basic to premium). See an example in Application FQDN filtering rules.
When you create the application rule, configure it with the following:
From the Destination Types options, choose FQDN Tag.
In the FQDN Tags option, select the pre-defined FQDN tag called WindowsUpdate.
For the Protocol option, enter “HTTP:80,HTTPS:443.”
Leave any TLS inspection option unselected if your firewall offers it.
After saving this application rule and allowing it to be deployed, your Windows devices will properly scan, download, and install updates.
Using Microsoft guidance for enterprise firewalls and proxies
If you use your own firewall or proxy services, then configure them per the official Microsoft guidelines:
Manage connection endpoints for Windows 11 Enterprise
Manage connection endpoints for Windows 10 Enterprise
This documentation applies to both Windows client and server devices.
Using Windows Server Update Services
Another option is to keep all Windows updates limited inside your network. That way, your devices never connect to the internet for scanning or downloading. You can achieve this using WSUS.
In this case, a Windows Server is configured with the WSUS feature, and Windows devices are configured to use this server for both scanning and content download.
Follow guidance on deploying and using WSUS here:
Deploy Windows Server Update Services
Plan deployment for updating Windows VMs in Azure
Azure Update Delivery service tags have been marked for deprecation for some time now (find it in Azure service tags overview). Deprecation isn’t just a part of a product’s lifecycle but an essential part of your larger security strategy as you keep your environment up to date. Thankfully, you have two possible solutions to choose from. Let’s get you ready for July 1st!
Continue the conversation. Find best practices. Bookmark the Windows Tech Community, then follow us @MSWindowsITPro on X/Twitter. Looking for support? Visit Windows on Microsoft Q&A.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Custom Classification Not Assigning – Unable to verify Classification Rule – System Error
Hello, I am experiencing an issue when trying to scan and apply custome classifications. I am the Collection Admin (and inherited for Data Source Admin and Data Curator). I am using the new Purview portal.
I am able to create the Classifications, the Classification Rules and when I run the scans none of my (15) custome classifications get assigned. The rule is basic to locate a series of ‘INV001’ for Invoice, ‘OWN001’ for Owner, etc. I create the classification Data Pattern via uploading a sample file to get the Purview recommended pattern (^[0-9]+[a-zA-Z]$). But when I run the scan I get zero custom matches for my files.
When I go back into the Classification Rule and run a Test Classification Rule, I upload a sample file of the simple rules i am trying to validate (INV001 or OWN001 etc. ) – using the same file that proposed the pattern, I get an error ‘A system error occurred. Unable to verify classification rule’.
I have seen the requirements to be the following:
Check if you have the correct permissions to apply custom classifications and classification rules. You need to have data curator or data source administrator permissions on any collection to be able to create a custom classification. //YES, I have these roles.//Check if the scan rule set is configured correctly. The scan rule set determines which classifications will be compared and applied to your data. For more information, see how Microsoft Purview classifies assets in the provided document.//Yes, this is the file used to create the pattern in the rule//Check if there are any issues with the data source itself. You can try rescanning the data source and see if the issue persists.//The files tested are simple 10 row files created for this purpose//
I have retried several times and keep getting zero custom classifications applied. Any guidance from successful custom classifications in the new portal is appreciated.
Hello, I am experiencing an issue when trying to scan and apply custome classifications. I am the Collection Admin (and inherited for Data Source Admin and Data Curator). I am using the new Purview portal. I am able to create the Classifications, the Classification Rules and when I run the scans none of my (15) custome classifications get assigned. The rule is basic to locate a series of ‘INV001’ for Invoice, ‘OWN001’ for Owner, etc. I create the classification Data Pattern via uploading a sample file to get the Purview recommended pattern (^[0-9]+[a-zA-Z]$). But when I run the scan I get zero custom matches for my files. When I go back into the Classification Rule and run a Test Classification Rule, I upload a sample file of the simple rules i am trying to validate (INV001 or OWN001 etc. ) – using the same file that proposed the pattern, I get an error ‘A system error occurred. Unable to verify classification rule’. I have seen the requirements to be the following:Check if you have the correct permissions to apply custom classifications and classification rules. You need to have data curator or data source administrator permissions on any collection to be able to create a custom classification. //YES, I have these roles.//Check if the scan rule set is configured correctly. The scan rule set determines which classifications will be compared and applied to your data. For more information, see how Microsoft Purview classifies assets in the provided document.//Yes, this is the file used to create the pattern in the rule//Check if there are any issues with the data source itself. You can try rescanning the data source and see if the issue persists.//The files tested are simple 10 row files created for this purpose//I have retried several times and keep getting zero custom classifications applied. Any guidance from successful custom classifications in the new portal is appreciated. Read More
Additional Group Policy Objects in AD than expected
There is 1 additional Policy Object in the Active Directory (DOMAINSystemPolicies) that does not have a matching Group Policy Object in the nor \DomainSysvolDomainPolicies
What is the appropriate method to remove the object from the AD? I suspect this object may be an issue creating minor problems on my domain.
There is 1 additional Policy Object in the Active Directory (DOMAINSystemPolicies) that does not have a matching Group Policy Object in the nor \DomainSysvolDomainPolicies What is the appropriate method to remove the object from the AD? I suspect this object may be an issue creating minor problems on my domain. Read More
What’s New in Copilot | May 2024
Welcome to the May 2024 edition of What’s New in Copilot for Microsoft 365. Every month, we highlight new end-user and admin features in Copilot for Microsoft 365, enabling you to better prepare, plan, and roll out Copilot features that help your users be more productive and efficient in the apps you use every day. This month, we’re excited to share how admins can manage risk and compliance requirements for AI apps in the new Microsoft Purview AI Hub, automate tasks across the organization using Copilot extensions, and more. We’re also adding exciting new capabilities that enable you to act on employee suggestions quickly using Copilot in Glint, use Copilot in Planner to transform teamwork, expand new prompt collections for industry roles, and much more!
And make sure to catch up on our recent Work Trend Index report, as well as Grow with Copilot, a new series where we curate relevant news, insights, and resources to help small and medium organizations harness the power of Copilot.
Now let’s take a look at this month’s updates:
Admin and management capabilities:
Discover how your organization is using AI with Microsoft Purview AI Hub
Automate tasks across your enterprise with Copilot extensions
Review and audit site permissions with Restricted SharePoint Search
Integrate and innovate with new Copilot connectors
End-user capabilities:
Act on employee comments and suggestions instantly with Copilot in Viva Glint
Transform the way your team works with Copilot in Planner
Explore new prompts unique to roles and industries in Copilot Lab
Discover catch-up in Copilot chat
Improve the way you draft and refine your Word documents
Collaborate without switching context with Copilot in Loop components
Boost response rates with Copilot in Forms
Discover how your organization is using AI with Microsoft Purview AI Hub
Now in Public Preview, AI Hub in Microsoft Purview helps support your organization’s risk and compliance requirements for AI apps such as Copilot for Microsoft 365 and third-party apps and provides ready-to-use policies to protect data. In the AI Hub, you can gain visibility into insights like sensitive data shared with Copilot, total number of users interacting with Copilot, and their associated risk level.
Insights into unlabeled files and SharePoint sites referenced by Copilot for Microsoft 365 will also be included in the Public Preview release of the AI Hub. This helps you prioritize the most critical data risks and put protection policies in place to prevent potential oversharing of sensitive data. Additionally, AI Hub provides visibility into non-compliant use of AI interactions to help you quickly gain insight into unethical use, such as regulatory collusion, money laundering, targeted harassment, and more. Lastly, guided assistance for emerging AI regulations like EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 23894:2023 and ISO/IEC 42001 will be surfaced in the AI Hub to help you assess, implement, and strengthen compliance controls to meet AI regulatory requirements and standards. Learn more about AI Hub in Microsoft Purview.
A computer screenshot showing the AI Hub in Microsoft Purview with several option to select to get started.
Automate tasks across your enterprise with Copilot extensions
Last week at Build, we announced Copilot extensions that make it easier than ever to extend and customize Microsoft Copilot for your unique business needs and processes. Extensions within Copilot enable new actions and customized knowledge for grounding and can be built using Copilot connectors, plugins, and your own copilots.
Soon, admins will be able to create Copilot extensions using Microsoft Graph connectors from Microsoft 365 admin center, so users can perform targeted searches, natural language queries, and custom communications on semantically indexed third-party data in Microsoft Graph using predefined prompts, all within the familiar Copilot for Microsoft 365 interface. This feature will begin rolling out in July. Reach out to MicrosoftGraphConnectorsFeedback@service.microsoft.com for more details.
Create Copilot extension pane with prefilled ‘Description’, ‘Instruction’ and ‘Starter Prompts’ based on the selected connection.
Access the newly created Copilot extension from Copilot chat right rail
Review and audit site permissions with Restricted SharePoint Search
Restricted SharePoint Search is now generally available for Copilot for Microsoft 365, enabling admins to review content management and data governance practices without losing momentum with Copilot deployment. Microsoft 365 admins can turn off organization-wide search and restrict both Enterprise Search and Copilot experiences to a curated set of SharePoint sites, so they can review and audit site permissions in parallel with the Copilot rollout. Users in the organization can continue to interact with files and content they own or that they have previously accessed in Copilot. Please view the Microsoft Learn article for more information and check the public roadmap for rollout status.
There is a message at the top of the screen with the text: “Your organization’s admin has restricted Copilot from accessing certain SharePoint sites. This limits the content Copilot can search and reference when responding to your prompts. Learn more.”
Integrate and innovate with new Copilot connectors
Copilot Studio is introducing Copilot connectors to enable an enterprise to connect their business, collaboration, and analytical data to their copilots. Copilot connectors include Microsoft Power Platform connectors, Microsoft Graph connectors, and Power Query connectors—with Microsoft Fabric integrations coming soon. This makes it possible to ground copilots in specific data sources, including public websites, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft Dataverse tables, Microsoft Fabric OneLake, and Microsoft Graph, as well as leading third-party apps. Starting in June 2024, admins can access the preview to curate and manage available Copilot connectors to ensure their developers are using a trusted catalog.
A computer screenshot showing Copilot Studio options to add available knowledge sources.
Act on employee comments and suggestions instantly with Copilot in Viva Glint
Understanding the voice of the employee through all types of surveys (i.e. engagement, onboarding, exit, and others) is critical to improving employee engagement, productivity, and retention. For organizations and large teams, these surveys generate thousands of employee comments that must be analyzed manually.
A computer screenshot showing the Viva Glint user interface focused on a Comment report
Using Copilot in Viva Glint, leaders can get key insights instantly from the thousands of comments. This helps organizations save hundreds of hours spent manually analyzing the feedback. With Copilot, Viva Glint can summarize, explore, and act on suggestions with quicker time to action.
Copilot in Viva Glint will be available for Public Preview in June. Check out how customers are benefiting from this quicker time to action, such as Phillips 66 – they saved two months of analysis with Copilot in Viva Glint. For a deeper understanding, you can read this blog and view a demo of Copilot in Viva Glint.
Transform the way your team works with Copilot in Planner
Copilot in Planner helps teams transform the way they work and collaborate on projects together. With the power of generative AI, Copilot in Planner streamlines the planning, management, and execution of your work, keeping you informed as you achieve your goals:
Get started with a plan – Copilot can take a natural language prompt and generate a plan for you, including goals, tasks and subtasks, and buckets.
Manage your plan – As your plan evolves, Copilot can suggest new tasks for you based on your new goals and keep you organized with new buckets where needed. Copilot can even help you add goals to your plan and generate tasks to achieve those goals.
Track progress – Copilot can answer questions about your plan and help you stay informed about the latest developments.
Learn more about Copilot in Planner in this blog. Copilot in Planner (preview) is currently rolling out to the new Microsoft Planner in Teams.
A screenshot showing Planner being used to create a marketing plan.
Explore new prompts unique to roles and industries in Copilot Lab
Earlier this month, we announced new prompt publishing capabilities coming to Copilot Lab that enable you to create, publish, and manage prompts within your organization. Now we are building on that value by introducing suggested prompts to inspire and guide you on your prompt creation journey. These prompts not only help you get started quickly but can be customized with role or industry specific details, best practices, and context to reduce trial and error and ensure high-quality output.
Visit Copilot Lab today to discover new prompt collections for HR and Marketing roles. You can also explore industry-specific prompts spanning across financial services, retail, and manufacturing. Additional prompts for additional roles and industries will be added to Copilot Lab in the coming weeks and months, so check back often.
Role and industry prompts available in Copilot Lab with drop down menu showing prompts organized by HR, Marketing, Retail, Manufacturing, and Financial Services.
Discover catch-up in Copilot chat
Catch-up in Copilot chat is your go-to resource for staying on top of your workday. Whether you’re preparing, reviewing, or striving to stay ahead, Copilot has you covered with proactive suggestions in the flow of work. Effortlessly navigate through recent updates and activity to gain the clarity and control you need to make every day more productive. Catch-up in Copilot chat is rolling out this month.
The image displays a computer screen with an open web browser showing the Microsoft 365 dashboard.
Improve the way you draft and refine your Word documents
Often, it’s easier to start on a new piece of work if you can reference or build upon existing content. That’s why we’ve added the ability to draft with Copilot based on a specific selection in your Word doc. This will help to:
Refine, rewrite, or paraphrase an existing selection
Elaborate on, expand upon, or explain your selected content in more detail
Enhance your content with statistics and additional information
Whether you are referencing selected text, a list, or a table, Copilot in Word provides a rich and interactive experience that will make your job easier. This feature started rolling out in April.
A computer screenshot showing a highlighted section of copy with a Draft with Copilot prompt window.
Collaborate without switching context with Copilot in Loop components
Microsoft Loop enables you and your team members to work together with Copilot. In the Loop app, you can co-prompt with Copilot, building off each other’s ideas and Copilot’s suggestions to maximize your creativity and collaboration. Copilot in Loop components is rolling out now, so you can experience this collaboration without switching context. Simply start a Loop component in Teams, Outlook, or Collaborative Meeting Notes and use Copilot to create or update content in the Loop component. When you share the Loop component in other apps, your Copilot conversation carries over so you can continue refining your prompts until everyone is happy with the results.
An image of a new email in Outlook with a Loop component inserted. The Loop component shows Copilot and multiple people prompting.
Boost response rates with Copilot in Forms
Copilot in Forms will now email response rates to a form’s owner and offer proactive recommendations for follow-up actions. For example, if the response rate is low, the form owner can use Copilot to quickly write and send reminders. Additionally, when a form has received sufficient responses, Copilot prompts the owner to review the form’s insights for informed decision-making. This feature is rolling out now.
Image of a Forms reminder email with text created by Copilot
Did you know? The Microsoft 365 Roadmap is where you can get the latest updates on productivity apps and intelligent cloud services. Check back regularly to see what features are in development or coming soon.
Please note that the dates mentioned in this article are tentative and subject to change. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, we encourage you to regularly check the Microsoft 365 Roadmap.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
How Generative AI Can Power Knowledge Management for Your Business
As a business leader, you know the value of having access to the right information at the right time. Whether you need to make strategic decisions, solve problems, or answer customer queries, you want to leverage the knowledge that is stored in your documents and databases. But how can you find the most relevant and accurate answers from the vast amount of unstructured data that you have?
One possible solution is to use generative AI, a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content based on existing data. Generative AI can help you transform your unstructured data into a searchable and interactive knowledge base that can power natural language conversations with your end users. In this blog post, we will show you how you can use Azure OpenAI and Cognitive Search to create chat bots that can answer challenging questions from your documents.
What is Azure OpenAI and Cognitive Search?
Azure OpenAI is a cloud service that provides access to powerful language models, such as GPT-3, that can generate natural language responses based on user inputs. These models can understand the context and intent of the user’s query and provide relevant and coherent answers. Azure OpenAI can also help you create prompts, which are the instructions that tell the model what to do with the user’s input.
Azure Cognitive Search is a cloud search service that can index, understand, and retrieve the right information across your enterprise content. It can also enable semantic search, which is a collection of query-related capabilities that bring semantic relevance and language understanding to textual search results. Azure Cognitive Search can help you extract text, tables, structure, and key-value pairs from your documents using Form Recognizer, and enrich your search index with natural language processing capabilities.
How can you use Azure OpenAI and Cognitive Search to create chat bots?
The basic idea is to use Azure OpenAI to interact with the user in natural language and to use Azure Cognitive Search to retrieve the most likely answers from your documents. The solution has the following steps:
Data ingestion: You upload your documents, such as PDFs, into Azure Blob Storage. A function gets triggered on new file upload, which processes the files and performs document chunking, content parsing, and indexing using Azure Cognitive Search.
Data embedding: You generate embeddings for all items in your search index using one of the language models from Azure OpenAI. Embeddings are information-dense representations of the semantic meaning of a piece of text, that can be easily utilized by machine learning models and algorithms. You store the embeddings in your search index.
Query processing: You write a prompt or a question in a chat UI, such as a web app, a chat bot, or a Teams app. The chat UI sends the prompt to Azure OpenAI Completions API, which generates a prompt response to be displayed in the chat UI. The prompt response may also include a query embedding, which is the embedding of the user’s input generated by the same language model.
Answer retrieval: You find the most likely answers by performing a vector similarity search of the query embedding on the search index. This is done by calculating the cosine similarity between the query vector and each of the vectors in the index and selecting the items with the highest similarity values. You may also use semantic ranking, hit highlighting, or summarization techniques to improve the precision and readability of the results.
Answer presentation: You display the answers to the user in the chat UI, along with the source document and the confidence score. You may also provide feedback mechanisms, such as thumbs up or down, to improve the model’s performance over time.
What are the benefits of using Azure OpenAI and Cognitive Search for knowledge management?
By using Azure OpenAI and Cognitive Search for knowledge management, you can achieve the following benefits:
Improve user experience: You can provide your end users with a natural and engaging way to find answers to their questions, without having to browse through multiple documents or use complex search queries.
Increase productivity and efficiency: You can reduce the time and effort required to access the information you need, and focus on the tasks that matter most to your business.
Leverage existing data: You can make use of the data that you already have, without having to create new content or structure it manually.
Scale and customize: You can scale your solution to handle large volumes of data and queries, and customize it to fit your specific use case and domain.
How can you get started with Azure OpenAI and Cognitive Search for knowledge management?
If you are interested in using Azure OpenAI and Cognitive Search for knowledge management, you can request to get started with a pilot of a chatbot inside teams. Before getting started, you will want to consider:
The business problem that you want to solve with knowledge management
The type and number of documents that you want to use for knowledge management
The type of data in those documents. For instance, are you dealing with any regulated data like controlled unclassified information (CUI).
The Azure subscription that you want to use for the pilot deployment
The business and technical decision makers and SMEs that will be involved in the pilot
The pilot should include the following phases:
Initiation and solution definition: Conduct an initial workshop to understand your data and your use case and define the solution scope and architecture.
Implementation and testing: Deploy the components of the solution, build the knowledge base, and test the chat UI.
Deployment and handover: Demo the solution to you, and hand over the source code and the deployment steps.
Example: Chatbot using Azure OpenAI in GCCH
The Defense Industrial Base (DIB) is going through significant changes due to regulatory changes and market incentives. Many are adopting Industry 4.0 by bringing systems online to improve efficiency and operational performance. The DIB want to empower end users to be find the answers they need when they need it. One way to do this is use a chatbot embedded into Microsoft Teams so end users can ask questions in a natural language and receive relevant answers to their questions. Since the DIB uses Microsoft’s GCCH platform, we will share how to build this in GCCH.
Download the latest version of Visual Studio and Install it
Launch Visual Studio
Navigate to the left side where it says extensions
Search for “Teams Toolkit” and install it
Search for “Azure App Service” and install it
Search for “Azure Resources” and install it
Search for “Azure Account” and install it
Go into Azure
Right click and go to “settings”
Find Azure Settings
Find the setting for your current cloud and switch to AzureUSGovernment (if you want to do this in a commercial cloud leave this setting as is)
Log into the extensions with the correct azure and M365 accounts for automated deployment. (Optional)
If not logged in, you cannot use Teams Toolkit for automated deployment, but you can still build your solution and upload/provision it manually with other methods.
Click on Teams Toolkit
Navigate to view samples.
Click on Teams Chef Bot
Follow directions to create chat bot.
Link to Azure OpenAI in Gov. You will need to go through the eligibility process.
Click play
You now have a baseline for a Chatbot operational. From here you can start considering large language models, branding, etc.
To learn more about building a custom copilot teams integration using AzureOpenAI in Azure Government watch our recent Microsoft Build Session: Custom copilot Teams Integration in Government applications.
Conclusion
Knowledge management is a powerful way to unlock the insights hidden in your data and provide them to your end users in a natural and conversational way. By using Azure OpenAI and Cognitive Search, you can create chat bots in Microsoft Teams that can answer complex questions from your documents, and improve your user experience, productivity, efficiency, and scalability. If you need help building out your knowledge management chatbot reach out to your Microsoft Account Team and/or Microsoft Partner to help get started.
Additional Resources
Teams AI library – Teams | Microsoft Learn
Request Access to Azure OpenAI Service for Azure Government Cloud (microsoft.com)
teams-ai/python/samples at main · microsoft/teams-ai · GitHub
Build Microsoft Teams bots with Bot Framework SDK – Bot Service | Microsoft Learn
Enhance productivity with Microsoft Copilot
Deploy Bots to Azure Government and Office 365 GCC High – Bot Service | Microsoft Learn
Accelerate Business Growth With AI
Azure AI Studio – Generative AI Development Hub | Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Collaboration Framework for the US Defense Industrial Base – Microsoft Community Hub
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Azure Database Migration Service consistent snapshot without locks (Preview)
Azure Database Migration Service (DMS) now offers preview support for consistent snapshot without locks, which can help businesses migrate their databases to Azure while the databases remain operational. With this feature, users can take a consistent snapshot of a MySQL server without losing data integrity at source.
When MySQL Consistent Snapshot without locks is enabled, after the initial load, a reconciliation phase occurs to ensure that the data written to the target is transactionally consistent with the source server from a specific position in the binary log.
Using this feature, there’s no need to take a read lock on the server, as tables are read at different points in time as the different binlog positions of each table are tracked. As a result, it’s possible to reconcile the tables near the end of the initial load by performing replication in catchup mode to ensure a consistent snapshot.
For more information about feature benefits and limitations, see the blog post Public Preview announcement – Azure DMS consistent snapshot without locks.
Thank you!
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Monthly news – June 2024
Microsoft Defender XDR
Monthly news
June 2024 Edition
This is our monthly “What’s new” blog post, summarizing product updates and various new assets we released over the past month across our Defender products. In this edition, we are looking at all the goodness from May 2024.
Legend:
Product videos
Webcast (recordings)
Docs on Microsoft
Blogs on Microsoft
GitHub
External
Improvements
Previews / Announcements
Unified Security Operations Platform: Microsoft Defender XDR & Microsoft Sentinel
Host Microsoft Defender data locally in Switzerland. We are pleased to announce that local data residency support in Switzerland is now generally available for Defender for Endpoint and Defender for Identity.
Create custom detections that include both Microsoft Sentinel and Defender XDR data. With the Unified Security Operations Platform, you are now able to create a customizable detection to look across both Microsoft Sentinel and Defender XDR data, without requiring any additional ingestion, via Custom detections. You will no longer have to duplicate data across both environments to ensure you are capturing what is necessary. Analytics rules will continue to work on any data ingested into Microsoft Sentinel. Learn more in our documentation.
Advanced hunting query API via Graph API is now available for log analytics data!
A new optional parameter “timespan” for the Graph API was added and allows you to query your log analytics data for any lookback time, not only for 30 days. This new parameter is not yet documented, but will get added to this link.
SOC optimization: unlock the power of precision-driven security management.
A new experience and API is currently in public preview – Microsoft Sentinel’s SOC Optimization, designed to empower security teams with precision-driven management capabilities. Read the announcement blog, and watch the webinar with a live demo.
SOC optimization – Unified Security Operations Platform
New Ninja show episodes:
New Defender XDR Copilot for Security Capabilities: Tune into this episode to learn the latest advancements, now available in the April release of Copilot for Security GA. We dive into the notable enhancements and new features, such as Guided Response for all incident types, comprehensive device and file summaries, end-user communications, and much more.
Answering Your Questions: Attack Disruption Explained: Attack Disruption is an automated response feature, designed to contain an ongoing attack quickly and effectively by leveraging high-confidence signals from both Microsoft Defender and non-Microsoft products. This episode addressees the most frequently asked questions about Attack Disruption and shares clarifications on its functionality.
Microsoft Security Exposure Management
Respond to trending threats and adopt zero-trust with Exposure Management.
This blog post shares updates to Security Initiatives and also gives a heads up about a few updates to attack path analysis.
Microsoft Security Experts
A BlackByte Ransomware intrusion case study.
This blog details an investigation into a ransomware event. During this intrusion the threat actor progressed through the full attack chain, from initial access through to impact, in less than five days, causing significant business disruption for the victim organization.
Recover an Active Directory Certificate Services (ADCS) platform from compromise.
This blog describes comprehensive backup and restore strategies for ensuring swift recovery and restoration of essential certificate services following a cyberattack or data breach.
Hunting for MFA manipulations in Entra ID tenants using KQL.
This blog describes how to use Kusto Query Language (KQL) to parse and hunt for MFA modifications in Microsoft Entra audit logs. By the end of this blog, you will have a better understanding of how to track MFA changes in compromised tenants using KQL queries and how to improve your cloud security posture.
Microsoft Defender Experts Services Expanded Coverage Upcoming Preview.
The upcoming preview of our Defender Experts services expanded coverage scheduled for June 2024 extends the capabilities to include customers’ cloud estates with servers and virtual machines running in Microsoft Azure and on-premises via Defender for Servers in Microsoft Defender for Cloud. In addition, our coverage will utilize third-party network signals to enhance investigations, create more avenues to generate leads for comprehensive threat hunting, and accelerate response earlier in the attack chain.
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Simplify triage with the new Alert Timeline.
This blog introduces the latest feature to our rich reporting feature set – the alert timeline – a new view that minimizes the time needed for triage and investigation without compromising the quality of analysis.
Offline Security Intelligence Update is now generally available.
Organizations can now update security intelligence (also referred to as “signatures”) on Linux endpoints with limited or no exposure to the internet using a local hosting server. Details in this blog.
Update: The Microsoft Defender for Endpoint plug-in for Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is generally available as of 05/23/2024. Details in this blog.
Update: The streamlined device connectivity experience is generally available as of 5/8/2024. Details in this blog.
Microsoft Defender for Identity
Easily detect CVE-2024-21427 with Defender for Identity.
This blog details the new activity added to the Advanced Hunting experience in the Defender portal which can help you spot potential attempts to exploit this vulnerability.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
App Governance capabilities are now available in GCCH & DoD. App Governance capabilities in Defender for Cloud Apps are now available to opt-in in GCCH& DoD – go ahead and enable it to increase your app protection.
Defender for Cloud Apps now provides new in-browser protection capabilities via Microsoft Edge to enable security teams to seamlessly manage how a user can interact with in-app data based on their risk profile. The in-browser protection removes the need for proxies, improving both security and productivity, based on session policies that are applied directly to the browser. Details in this blog.
A block message from Defender for Cloud Apps to prevent the download of a sensitive file within the Edge browser
Microsoft Defender for Office 365
Automated responses to users via Automated Investigation and Response (AIR) is now generally available. Details in this blog.
Enhanced Response Action Experience from Threat Explorer.
You can now take multiple actions at the same time on messages via Threat Explorer. This feature makes it easier and faster for SecOps to deal with email threats by giving you logical grouping of actions, contextual availability of actions, and support for tenant level block URLs and files. Details in this blog.
Email Protection Basics in Microsoft 365 Part Five: Mastering Overrides.
This blog is the fifth and final part of the “email protection basics” blog series, and it covers the different overrides, why you may need them, and why it isn’t a good idea to keep them permanently.
Microsoft Security Blogs
“Dirty stream” attack: Discovering and mitigating a common vulnerability pattern in Android apps.
Microsoft discovered a high impact vulnerability pattern found in popular Android applications that a malicious app can leverage along with an advanced & previously to compromise vulnerable apps on the same device, potentially leading to account credentials, tokens, sensitive data.
Threat actors misusing Quick Assist in social engineering attacks leading to ransomware.
Microsoft Threat Intelligence has observed Storm-1811 misusing the client management tool Quick Assist to target users in social engineering attacks that led to malware like Qakbot followed by Black Basta ransomware deployment.
Moonstone Sleet emerges as new North Korean threat actor with new bag of tricks.
Moonstone Sleet is observed to set up fake companies and job opportunities to engage with potential targets, employ trojanized versions of legitimate tools, create a malicious game, and deliver a new custom ransomware.
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Create Dynamic User Group from Dynamic Device Group
Our organization has both Corporate and Personal devices within Intune. When setting up Apps, the Managed App section of the device shows too many of the same app since they are assigned to All Users. (iOS store app vs iOS volume purchase program app)
Is there a way that when a user enrolls their device, they can be added to a dynamic user group based on the device group the device is enrolled in?
Our organization has both Corporate and Personal devices within Intune. When setting up Apps, the Managed App section of the device shows too many of the same app since they are assigned to All Users. (iOS store app vs iOS volume purchase program app) Is there a way that when a user enrolls their device, they can be added to a dynamic user group based on the device group the device is enrolled in? Read More
transition customer M365 E5 subscription from PAGY (annual term) to CSP NCE
Hi, we are looking to onboard a customer in CSP (we are direct CSP). Currently they are transacting via PAYG and recently bought M365 E5 licenses on annual term (monthly pay). If we were to migrate their subscription to CSP NCE, I think customer may need to cancel the PAYG terms. Question is whether customer will incur any penalty for cancelling the PAYG early with MS, as they would like to migrate to CSP.
Hi, we are looking to onboard a customer in CSP (we are direct CSP). Currently they are transacting via PAYG and recently bought M365 E5 licenses on annual term (monthly pay). If we were to migrate their subscription to CSP NCE, I think customer may need to cancel the PAYG terms. Question is whether customer will incur any penalty for cancelling the PAYG early with MS, as they would like to migrate to CSP. Read More
Wrap single line text in the Title Column so that it breaks while maintaining hover/single click.
Initial ask:
Currently, my “Title” column is clickable. The double click of the item in that column allows my powerapp to open and all functions correctly. Is it possible to use a single click rather than a double click to open the powerapp from clicking the item (in the Title Column)?
More details:
When you add any kind of text wrapping in the Title column it loses the “hover to show underline” and single click capabilities. As soon as I add any kind of text wrapping JSON in my Column format settings the items in that Column can still be clicked, but it doesn’t hover and underline, and it only opens on a double click.
Is there a way to maintain the hover over title of item (becomes underlined) and then a single click to open the PowerApp? If it is wrapped I can still double click to get into the PowerApp details, but this is problematic for the functionality of my users. Not having the rollover to show the user that it is “clickable” and then having it retain it’s “single click” ability is a bit of a deal breaker for me with this App. Do you know of any SharePoint list formatting tricks I can use to have both the text wrapping functionality and the rollover/single click capabilities as well?
Initial ask:Currently, my “Title” column is clickable. The double click of the item in that column allows my powerapp to open and all functions correctly. Is it possible to use a single click rather than a double click to open the powerapp from clicking the item (in the Title Column)? More details:When you add any kind of text wrapping in the Title column it loses the “hover to show underline” and single click capabilities. As soon as I add any kind of text wrapping JSON in my Column format settings the items in that Column can still be clicked, but it doesn’t hover and underline, and it only opens on a double click. Is there a way to maintain the hover over title of item (becomes underlined) and then a single click to open the PowerApp? If it is wrapped I can still double click to get into the PowerApp details, but this is problematic for the functionality of my users. Not having the rollover to show the user that it is “clickable” and then having it retain it’s “single click” ability is a bit of a deal breaker for me with this App. Do you know of any SharePoint list formatting tricks I can use to have both the text wrapping functionality and the rollover/single click capabilities as well?@MarkBAndR Read More
Unable to promote virtual machine to domain controller
Hello,
We had a pre-existing physical server, which was a domain controller (10.0.0.250). I was able to promote a different physical server (10.0.0.241) to a domain controller on my network. 10.0.0.241 is now my only domain controller. It is also our only DNS server. Both of these servers are/were Server 2016 standard. 10.0.0.250 is no longer on our network. It seems 10.0.0.241 is working great.
I have purchased a new server (Server 2022 standard) and gave it an IP address of 10.0.0.240. I installed Hyper-V on it and created a virtual machine.
My virtual machine is also running Server 2022 standard and has an IP address of 10.0.0.242. Whenever I try to promote this server to a domain controller, I receive an error. I will paste this error below. It seems like I only receive this error on my virtual machine. I have reviewed my DNS settings for all of my servers and have made sure they’re set to point at 10.0.0.241. I will also attach the logs mentioned in the error message below. I can send the entire adprep log to anyone who needs it and I will provide any other information needed.
Old DC: 10.0.0.250 (Server 2016 standard – No longer on our network)
Current DC: 10.0.0.241 (Server 2016 standard)
Current hypervisor: 10.0.0.240 (Server 2022 standard)
Current VM I am trying to promote to a domain controller: 10.0.0.242 (Server 2022 standard)
*All server adapters DNS settings set to point at 10.0.0.241
*I can ping 10.0.0.241 from 10.0.0.242
*I was able to test the NPS role on 10.0.0.242. It worked without issue. It seems like all devices are talking on the network.
Failure to promote to domain controller error:
ADPrep execution failed –> Microsoft.DirectoryServices.Deployment.ADPrepLdapException: No Such Object. Server extended error: 8333. Server extended message: 0000208D: NameErr: DSID-03100245, problem 2001 (NO_OBJECT), data 0, best match of:
‘DC=contoso,DC=com’
.
Adprep was unable to modify the security descriptor on object CN=Keys,DC=contoso,DC=com.
[Status/Consequence]
ADPREP was unable to merge the existing security descriptor with the new access control entry (ACE).
[User Action]
Check the log file ADPrep.log in the C:Windowsdebugadpreplogs20240531093839 directory for more information..
Check the log files in the C:Windowsdebugadpreplogs20240531093839 directory for detailed information.
Here is a small sample of the adprep log:
Hello, We had a pre-existing physical server, which was a domain controller (10.0.0.250). I was able to promote a different physical server (10.0.0.241) to a domain controller on my network. 10.0.0.241 is now my only domain controller. It is also our only DNS server. Both of these servers are/were Server 2016 standard. 10.0.0.250 is no longer on our network. It seems 10.0.0.241 is working great. I have purchased a new server (Server 2022 standard) and gave it an IP address of 10.0.0.240. I installed Hyper-V on it and created a virtual machine.My virtual machine is also running Server 2022 standard and has an IP address of 10.0.0.242. Whenever I try to promote this server to a domain controller, I receive an error. I will paste this error below. It seems like I only receive this error on my virtual machine. I have reviewed my DNS settings for all of my servers and have made sure they’re set to point at 10.0.0.241. I will also attach the logs mentioned in the error message below. I can send the entire adprep log to anyone who needs it and I will provide any other information needed. Old DC: 10.0.0.250 (Server 2016 standard – No longer on our network)Current DC: 10.0.0.241 (Server 2016 standard)Current hypervisor: 10.0.0.240 (Server 2022 standard)Current VM I am trying to promote to a domain controller: 10.0.0.242 (Server 2022 standard) *All server adapters DNS settings set to point at 10.0.0.241*I can ping 10.0.0.241 from 10.0.0.242*I was able to test the NPS role on 10.0.0.242. It worked without issue. It seems like all devices are talking on the network. Failure to promote to domain controller error: ADPrep execution failed –> Microsoft.DirectoryServices.Deployment.ADPrepLdapException: No Such Object. Server extended error: 8333. Server extended message: 0000208D: NameErr: DSID-03100245, problem 2001 (NO_OBJECT), data 0, best match of:’DC=contoso,DC=com’.Adprep was unable to modify the security descriptor on object CN=Keys,DC=contoso,DC=com.[Status/Consequence]ADPREP was unable to merge the existing security descriptor with the new access control entry (ACE).[User Action]Check the log file ADPrep.log in the C:Windowsdebugadpreplogs20240531093839 directory for more information..Check the log files in the C:Windowsdebugadpreplogs20240531093839 directory for detailed information. Here is a small sample of the adprep log: The operation GUID already exists so Adprep did not attempt to rerun this operation but is continuing.[2024/05/31:09:38:40.404]Adprep was about to call the following LDAP API. ldap_search_s(). The base entry to start the search is cn=c81fc9cc-0130-f4d1-b272-634d74818133,cn=Operations,cn=DomainUpdates,cn=System,DC=contoso,DC=com.[2024/05/31:09:38:40.405]LDAP API ldap_search_s() finished, return code is 0x20 [2024/05/31:09:38:40.405]Adprep verified the state of operation cn=c81fc9cc-0130-f4d1-b272-634d74818133,cn=Operations,cn=DomainUpdates,cn=System,DC=contoso,DC=com. [Status/Consequence]The operation has not run or is not currently running. It will be run next.[2024/05/31:09:38:40.405]Adprep was about to call the following LDAP API. ldap_search_s(). The base entry to start the search is CN=Keys,DC=contoso,DC=com.[2024/05/31:09:38:40.406]LDAP API ldap_search_s() finished, return code is 0x20 [2024/05/31:09:38:40.406]Adprep was unable to modify the security descriptor on object CN=Keys,DC=contoso,DC=com.[Status/Consequence]ADPREP was unable to merge the existing security descriptor with the new access control entry (ACE).[User Action]Check the log file ADPrep.log in the C:Windowsdebugadpreplogs20240531093839 directory for more information.[2024/05/31:09:38:40.406]Adprep encountered an LDAP error. Error code: 0x20. Server extended error code: 0x208d, Server error message: 0000208D: NameErr: DSID-03100245, problem 2001 (NO_OBJECT), data 0, best match of:’DC=contoso,DC=com’ DSID Info:DSID: 0x180e0a0aldap error = 0x20NT BUILD: 20348NT BUILD: 2461 Read More
EXCEL SPREADSHEET TO FORM CONTACT LIST IN EMAIL
I HAVE EXCEL SPREAD SHEET WITH NAMES AND EMAIL ADDRESSES. I WANT TO MOVE THEM YO A GROUP IN MY EMAIL ACCOUNT. HOW CAN THIS BE DONE ?
I HAVE EXCEL SPREAD SHEET WITH NAMES AND EMAIL ADDRESSES. I WANT TO MOVE THEM YO A GROUP IN MY EMAIL ACCOUNT. HOW CAN THIS BE DONE ? Read More
CoPilot in everything BUT Teams!
I upgraded my business license, with the intention of getting CoPilot for Teams to help me with meeting notes and summaries. That was the big thing I wanted it for.
Of COURSE, I have Copilot in every single app EXCEPT Teams. I have attempted to update my license, ensured it’s allowed, but every time I even try the web versions of “try it on Teams” there is no CoPilot to be found. Yes, I’ve searched apps (only CP for Sales/etc show up), made sure the Admin settings allow it, and have it on every other program and Windows – but nada – nothing – in Teams, which is the ONE app I really needed it in.
It’s been over a week.
Anyone else found a solution that didn’t involve it just randomly showing up one day?
I upgraded my business license, with the intention of getting CoPilot for Teams to help me with meeting notes and summaries. That was the big thing I wanted it for. Of COURSE, I have Copilot in every single app EXCEPT Teams. I have attempted to update my license, ensured it’s allowed, but every time I even try the web versions of “try it on Teams” there is no CoPilot to be found. Yes, I’ve searched apps (only CP for Sales/etc show up), made sure the Admin settings allow it, and have it on every other program and Windows – but nada – nothing – in Teams, which is the ONE app I really needed it in. It’s been over a week. Anyone else found a solution that didn’t involve it just randomly showing up one day? Read More
Bookings not honoring existing “busy” time in staff member’s Outlook calendar
We have a user who is having difficulty with a group bookings calendar. When users make reservations where she is the “staff” member, it is not honoring her personal Outlook calendar’s busy times. We have verified that beyond a shadow of a doubt that the “Events on Office calendar affect availability” setting is enabled for her. We have tried disabling/re-enabling the setting, and it’s simply not honoring the setting. Her personal events are marked as “Busy” on her calendar, and Microsoft has already confirmed that “something is wrong” because it’s not doing what it should be. Basically, there’s no argument from Microsoft’s end that something is wrong.
However, we’ve had this open ticket with Microsoft for nearly a month now, and as usual I’m/we’re experiencing the usual “Tier 1 Support Runaround” awesomeness that I know and love from Microsoft support. The end user has been on several support calls now where they’re doing the exact same troubleshooting each time (loading the page, generating a .HAR log) and it’s going nowhere. An engineer was supposed to be on the last two calls that were scheduled and they had to cancel each one, and frankly I can’t subject the end user to any more of this as she’s extremely busy and it doesn’t seem to be specific to her anyway. This is clearly a backend issue so I don’t know what more they want from us or what they expect to see just looking at the interface / the same logs over and over.
So that’s why I’m here. Has anyone experienced this issue with Bookings and what did you do to fix it, because Microsoft appears to be out of ideas?!
We have a user who is having difficulty with a group bookings calendar. When users make reservations where she is the “staff” member, it is not honoring her personal Outlook calendar’s busy times. We have verified that beyond a shadow of a doubt that the “Events on Office calendar affect availability” setting is enabled for her. We have tried disabling/re-enabling the setting, and it’s simply not honoring the setting. Her personal events are marked as “Busy” on her calendar, and Microsoft has already confirmed that “something is wrong” because it’s not doing what it should be. Basically, there’s no argument from Microsoft’s end that something is wrong. However, we’ve had this open ticket with Microsoft for nearly a month now, and as usual I’m/we’re experiencing the usual “Tier 1 Support Runaround” awesomeness that I know and love from Microsoft support. The end user has been on several support calls now where they’re doing the exact same troubleshooting each time (loading the page, generating a .HAR log) and it’s going nowhere. An engineer was supposed to be on the last two calls that were scheduled and they had to cancel each one, and frankly I can’t subject the end user to any more of this as she’s extremely busy and it doesn’t seem to be specific to her anyway. This is clearly a backend issue so I don’t know what more they want from us or what they expect to see just looking at the interface / the same logs over and over. So that’s why I’m here. Has anyone experienced this issue with Bookings and what did you do to fix it, because Microsoft appears to be out of ideas?! Read More
MVP’s Favorite Content: MS Learn Plan, Blogs, SQL, Windows
In this blog series dedicated to Microsoft’s technical articles, we’ll highlight our MVPs’ favorite article along with their personal insights.
Masayuki Mokudai (もくだいさん), M365 MVP, Japan
Overview of Plans on Microsoft Learn | Microsoft Learn
“When you want to share the knowledge you’ve gained from your actual work with your colleagues or juniors, you might feel that “The learning modules designed for Microsoft’s MCP preparation lack certain things and contain unnecessary information.” You can resolve the gap between the exam prep learning modules and the knowledge required for your company’s tasks by creating your own learning modules. Combine existing [modules] to clearly identify the learning outcomes needed for your learners and create a learning plan by combining modules into the smallest possible units to enhance the learners’ sense of accomplishment.”
(In Japanese: 実業務で得た知識を同僚や後輩に伝えたい場合に「マイクロソフトのMCP対策用の学習モジュールだと、アレも足りない、これは不要」と感じたことがあると思います。試験対策の学習モジュールと自社の業務に必要な知識のズレは自分で学習モジュールを作成することで解決することができます。既存の [モジュール] を組み合わせて学習者に必要な学習成果を明確にし、できるだけ小さい単元でモジュールを組み合わせることで、学習者の達成感を高めるための学習プランをあなたが作成してください。)
*Relevant Blog: 学習支援者向け、Microsoft Learn の Plan を使って学習コンテンツをまとめよう – もくだいさんのOffice365至高のレシピ (mokudai.jp)
James van den Berg, Cloud and Datacenter Management MVP, Netherlands
Blogs – Microsoft Community Hub
“I like to read the Microsoft Tech community Blog every day and read about all the New Microsoft features for the community made by Microsoft. Learning but also trying the new features yourself.
I like Azure Hybrid and working with Azure Arc services for Hybrid IT Management.”
*Relevant Blog: Add Kubernetes Cluster to Microsoft Azure Arc #Containers #AzureHybrid | Cloud and Datacenter Management Blog (wordpress.com)
Sergio Govoni, Data Platform MVP, Italy
Introducing data virtualization with PolyBase – SQL Server | Microsoft Learn
“Recently I had the opportunity to configure a maintenance plan for a SQL Server database with external tables and external data source for PolyBase queries. The maintenance plan has been completed with the error “The object Update Statistics isn’t supported on External Table”. I decided to developed the stored procedure sp_drop_create_stats_external_table that can generate all the T-SQL statements for drop and create statistics that can be used in the maintenance plan. From the maintenance plan prospective, CREATE and DROP STATISTICS statements can be stored on a temporary table or working table and executed separately. DROP STATISTICS statements can be executed before the maintenance statistics task and afterward the CREATE STATISTICS statements.”
*Relevant Blog:
– English:
How to maintain SQL Server statistics on PolyBase external table | by Sergio Govoni | CodeX | Medium
– Italian: Aggiornamento statistiche SQL per database che contengono External Table PolyBase – UGISS
Tomokazu Kizawa, Windows and Devices MVP, Japan
Update release cycle for Windows clients – Windows Deployment | Microsoft Learn
“The Windows 11 release cycle has been adjusted several times to ensure efficient and timely delivery to the market. There are various update patterns and methods, ranging from monthly security patches to major annual updates. Additionally, technical terms like “‘A’ release” and “‘C’ release” are often used, which can sometimes be confusing. This article provides a detailed explanation of when and what updates are released for Windows clients. It’s beneficial for both corporate IT administrators and individual users.”
(In Japanese: Windows 11のリリースサイクルは、市場への効率的かつタイムリーな提供を目指して何度か変更されています。毎月リリースされるセキュリティパッチの適用から、年に一度の大規模更新まで、様々なパターンの更新タイミングや方法が存在します。また、一般的に「Aリリース」や「Cリリース」などの専門的な用語が使われることもあり、理解が難しくなることがあります。この記事では、Windowsクライアントにおいて、どのタイミングでどのようなアップデートがリリースされるかを詳しく解説しています。企業のIT管理者だけでなく、個人ユーザーにとっても非常に有益な内容です。)
*Relevant Video: 第728回 これでわかった!Windows 11のリリースサイクル (2024/4/29) (youtube.com)
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
